Dutch Police Are Teaching Eagles How to Capture Renegade Drones

As quadcopters and other remote controlled flying devices becomes more popular—and laws against them become more restrictive—law enforcement is left with the challenge of taking increasingly large numbers of law-breaking drones out of the sky. Some agencies opt for anti-drone drones. The military can usually just shoot 'em down. But the Dutch have an clever solution: trained eagles.

It might sound a little weird at first, but this tactic makes all kinds of sense. Eagles and other large birds of prey already go after drones in the wild, so it's not outside their skill set. Also, when law enforcement goes after a drone they can't just shoot it down and let it drop out of the sky lest it cause property damage or hit a bystander. Tokyo police are dealing with this by using a net-carrying drone, but an eagle is a pretty elegant solution. It's not like raptors are in the habit of letting their prey drop after all.

There are, of course, all kinds of added complications when it comes to working with live, trained animals, and so the Dutch National Police force is also working on a net-based solution. But even if that winds up being more efficient, it will never be even half as cool.